Few can beat Frank and Brittany Walker Konsella when it comes to qualifications for writing a backcountry skiing guidebook.

The Crested Butte couple is among the elite few who have climbed and skied all the state’s fourteeners. But their new book — “Backcountry Ski & Snowboard Routes Colorado,” by Mountaineers Books — isn’t a boasting ode to peak bagging and the burliest lines in the state as much as a manual, offering a geographically diverse array of easy to demanding lines that can be skied from December through May.

“We tried to make a guide that would accommodate all levels of backcountry skiers, from beginners to experts, with extra-credit ideas that might entice people with a little more knowledge to take it to the next level,” said Brittany, a former schoolteacher who in 2011 joined Aspen’s Christy Mahon as one of only two women to climb and ski all 54 of the state’s fourteeners.

It’s the kind of guidebook that will land in backpacks and on coffee tables. And just in time.

Skiing in avalanche terrain is tricky. It requires essential gear, education, good partners and a more attentive mindset than what’s needed for riding chairlifts at the resort. Frank and Brittany emphasize the obligation for education, from avalanche fundamentals to wilderness first-aid to mountain skills.

They also assembled backcountry stepping-stones for first-timers, with a wide selection of introductory routes. They classify the challenge of both the ascent and descent and standardize the challenges with “easy” to “extremely difficult” rankings. Even better, the duo describes the technical skills required for each route, from basic skinning to using ice axes, crampons and ropes.

Particularly useful is the couple’s recommendations for the best months to ski a route on a typical snow year, a variable that poses perennial challenges to backcountry skiers in Colorado because of a notoriously fickle snowpack that can change drastically over the course of a season.

They also roamed well off the beaten track, detailing rarely-skied options in overlooked ranges like Park, Mosquito, Flat Tops and Grand Mesa.

“The best part for us being able to write this book was that we got to ski a lot of lines we had seen on our fourteener project,” said Frank, a Crested Butte real estate broker who in 2008 became the fourth person to ski all 54 of the state’s skiable fourteeners. “You know when you ski one thing, you usually find 10 more lines you’d like to go back for. This book gave us the perfect opportunity to go ski the 12,000-, 13,000-foot peaks that were near the fourteeners.”

The couple’s adventures on some of the state’s most demanding peaks make them grizzled vets able to dole out the best advice. Readers will learn from them. In addition to the detailed approach routes and options for ski lines, they have the intuitive tips earned from hundreds if not thousands of days spent in avalanche terrain, like using radios and always carrying crampons. Perhaps their mountain fluency is most evident with the inclusion of alternative ascents and descents for many routes, allowing for the flexibility required when traveling in dynamic conditions where weather and snowpack force constant evaluation and adjustment to plans.

Several years ago Brittany provided some route conditions and advice to winter climbers planning to climb Humboldt Peak in the Sangre de Cristo Range. One of the climbers took a fall on the descent and suffered injuries that would prove fatal. Brittany still thinks about the accident, wondering if she could have given better beta or warnings.

“I’m constantly stricken by that. We didn’t give them the wrong info, so what happened? We want to give people the very best resources we can … but it’s important that everyone is tapped into their own skill sets,” she said.

Unbound by the elevation parameters of their 14,000-foot ski project, the couple explored Colorado, cataloguing 102 routes in 12 different zones across the state. And they hope their new book sparks that same exploration for others.

“One reason we decided to write the book was because we wanted to inspire people to get out there and enjoy backcountry skiing,” Brittany said. “And a big part of that is because we want people to know about these places so that they can protect them.”

“The public lands we use for backcountry ski touring are being threatened by our current government and sometimes other organizations and entities. On top of that, skiing as a whole is being threatened very much by climate change. We believe that inspiring more people to enjoy the winter backcountry will hopefully foster an incentive for them to preserve our lands, access to those public lands, and take actions to minimize climate change.”